The present invention relates to a hypergolic fuel system and a method for producing thrust employing the hypergolic fuel sys tem.
It is known in the prior art that hydrogen peroxide is known propellant for use in rocket engines. In accordance with the prior art, hydrogen peroxide is contacted with a decomposition catalyst which accelerates decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide. The resulting gases are exhausted to provide the thrust. Such a method and decomposition catalyst are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,488,962.
The employment of the catalytic bed, while effective, does result in a significant increase in cost in prior art methods. Naturally, it would be highly desirable to provide a hypergolic fuel system which does not require the use of expensive decomposition catalysts.
Accordingly, it is the principal object of the present invention to develop a liquid based fuel system which is hypergolic with hydrogen peroxide.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a hypergolic agent which is used in combination with hydrogen peroxide to obtain reliable, dependable and cost effective ignition of a liquid fuel.
The foregoing objects are achieved by way of the present invention by providing a hypergolic fuel system comprising hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), silane (SiH4) and a liquid fuel. A method for producing thrust comprises contacting the hydrogen peroxide with silane to decompose the hydrogen peroxide to form resulting gases which are contacted with a liquid fuel for igniting the liquid fuel.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be made clear from the following detailed description.